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How many run Linux and what problems are you experiencing?

26K views 128 replies 53 participants last post by  Jake 
#1 ·
Hey y'all

I have a few computers at my place, some run windows, some linux and some freebsd. I was wondering how many people actually run something other than windows. So many people here actually run linux and what issues you have with it (ex: videos, websites, wireless) if any at all. Do you run linux as a desktop or server. Feel free to give any input.
 
#54 ·
Stampeder: I started playing with debian in 2007, and was comfortable with using it. I understand debian and ubuntu are almost similar, and in fact I have used the unbuntu forum for solving some of my problems. I imagine most packages are available for most of the distributions, so in the end, once the system is set up, it does not really matter that much. My problems with debian is not the system, but my inexperience. First, it is my fault that I did not read the wiki to understand the system and the commands, but just charged ahead fiddling things to try and make it work. This process has taught me a lot. I especially like the synaptic package manager, and use it exclusive now, whereas in the beginning, I did not even know of it and try to use the terninal commands.

When I say problems, they are not trial. E.g., I want to install temperature, fan, and voltage monitors for my i7 920 cpu and do overclock stress testing. It is easy in MS windows, just download it. But in linux, i7 920 cpu is so new that the existing packages cannot work with it. Enventually, I got help from debian forum and got it going.

My next big task is to install MythTV and move my TV card over from my xp pc.
 
#57 ·
@digme: I don't know MythKnoppix. But, thanks for the suggestion. I'll search for it.

@JamesK: I couldn't agree more. I tried installing ubuntu, but found it just about the same as debian. But I find win7 is real easy to install.
 
#58 ·
Installing Linux is a lot easier than installing XP. It's about on par with Win7 but that's probably because Win7 has just been released.

I've evaluated and used about a dozen Linux distros over the last two years. The main issues are failed installations and lack of stability. The kernel itself is typically very stable, it's other software that keeps getting broken. I found that the best distros in these regards were ones that are based on slightly older kernels and software bases and provide incremental update systems, rather than new releases every few months. These distros often don't have the latest features so it might be necessary to go with one that is cutting edge to get a new feature.

Recommended desktop distros for people new to Linux, PCLinuxOS (usability, stability) or Mandriva, Ubuntu (cutting edge.)

Recommended distro for a full scale home or SOHO server, CentOS (very stable.)

Recommended distro for a small NAS, FreeNAS (ease of use.)

Recommended distros for experiences Linux users, whatever you are familiar with.
 
#59 ·
I started playing with Linux maybe 6-7 years ago with Mandrake, then dropped it. About 3 years ago a old computer that I had handed down to my daughter came back to me so I decided to try Linux again. I'm pretty much a geek at windows and dos but really wanted a Linux distro that would just work so I started downloading and testing. My goal was a distro that would just run for a basic install and surfing the net etc, the moment it needed to open a terminal window to get something basic to work - it was gone. First was Mandrake, it lasted 20 minutes, Red hat even less. Unbuntu and Kunbuntu lasted a day or two. Then I found Mepis. It installed easy, found all my hardware and ran. Three to four months later I finally had to open a terminal window, by then I was sold. Now I'm running ver 8.something and still loving it. It's changed to Debian based now and is just as good if not better. I run it on my desktop machine and dual boot it on a Toshiba laptop. Unfortunately the other 9 computers in the house are still under Redmond power but that is changing slowly. I was in the middle of reloading xp on one of the general use machines in the house (as so often is needed) and it wouldn't install so I put Mepis on instead and no one said anything. Anyway I'm pleased with it as an easy to use distro thats overlooked way too much.
 
#60 ·
mayhamfx said:
I'm pretty much a geek at windows and dos
As you are a DOS geek, a Linux terminal window would have been your introduction to a world of tools that make DOS tools look like lego blocks, so its too bad you didn't want that. I think back to all the hassles I've had with DOS and Windows over the years and I can state positively, completely, absolutely that they never "just worked" without tweaking and command line or registry stuff, so either you were extremely lucky or you have been holding Linux to an unrealistic standard. I'd like to know what the problems were since that's the topic of this thread - we probably have some advice that can help. I like Mepis too, btw, but Mandrake/Mandriva has been my favourite all along.
 
#65 ·
I have been using debian for the last few months. I have now configured a virtual host server and running my own photo gallery (using Gallery2). I use dyndns.com for its free service. So far it works.

My new motto is: linux slows down my Alzheimer and dementia.:)
 
#66 ·
I'm currently using Ubuntu Server 9.10 as the base for my future television channel's automated broadcast system, with VLC as the base for the streaming engine.

Unfortunately, VLC has MAJOR problems streaming various file formats to other various file formats. For example, streaming TO Theora/Vorbis/Ogg can result in audio/video desynchronization of up to a second. And for some strange reason, you can't stream anything at all FROM Theora/Vorbis/Ogg files regardless of the target format. Mismatched frame rates can also cause issues with MPEG2 streams; you have audio, but no video.

I'm hoping the upcoming release of Ubuntu 10.04 along with the upgraded VLC will resolve many of these issues. Until, then, I'll have to continue encoding all of the broadcast material as XviD/MP3/TS files to ensure maximum stability and compatibility.

Is it worth all of this trouble? Yes, it is. I'm saving a ton of money on licensing fees, and I don't have to worry about an "invalid license" shutting down the entire system without prior notice. And once you learn how to properly set up VLC's scheduling component, the amount of power in this free software is simply astounding.
 
#67 ·
I'm hoping the upcoming release of Ubuntu 10.04 along with the upgraded VLC will resolve many of these issues.
Good luck. My experience is that new Linux releases usually introduce as many bugs as they fix. Sometimes they reintroduce old bugs.

My response to the OP is, when aren't there problems? I've tried several releases of all the major distros and they all have issues, unless they are for the one particular task they are fine tuned for. Just getting many distros to install on some systems is a major task. Most of these problems are show stoppers for the average home or small business user. It's getting so that you need to be Linux guru to to accomplish anything except run a few desktop applications on a simple desktop system. With the number of changes being made to Linux these days, forget about stability or long term support as well. Software incompatibilities between major Linux versions and applications are rampant. I am not trying to run down Linux here but simply providing my experiences. If Linux wants to be mainstream, there needs to be a lot more attention to quality control, software compatibility and long term support.
 
#68 ·
There are a ton of great tutorials on how to setup a particular Linux-based machine, so I don't buy the argument that there are always problems.

Linux distributions are Swiss Army Knives - you can have a basic desktop system that is preloaded with all the goodies, or a full fledged multi-purpose server machine depending on which you prefer. Add in a wide variety of other configuration possibilities and you are surrounded by choices, along with tutorials.
 
#69 ·
uBuntu versus Windows 7 and my issues with both

"Searched" for a subject line at DF.ca - did'nt find one so here goes :

ubuntu : awesome, but......have tried everything to get my Hauppage HVR-1250 going. No luck. When I load the command lines for installing, I'd get "can't find directory Fired 1396". Something like that. I've scoured the forums with no luck.

Windows 7 : Succumbed to Billy G's latest marketing ploy. It worked (The HVR 1250 that is) and its relatively idiotproof (really). Luckily I never caught the "Vista Bug" (never tried it - too many horror stories).

All is not what it seems though. My XP crashed on a hard drive that's been hit several times over the last eight years. Well ubuntu to the rescue. Booted a Live CD of ubuntu v9.14 and voila, there's my good drive with all data intact and the bad one obliterated. Because ubuntu's not a memory hog, I had enough "good" sectors on the bad hard drive to make it work and giving back my PC in full working order.

Life goes on and I'm stuck having to fork over $$ just to get my HTPC/OTA DVR up and running again. I've never run pirate copies of Windows and I'm not about to start the practice. My demo W7 expires in 2 days and my new key & DVD in arrive 4 days.

ubuntu is still with me, so are the old 8 year old good and bad drives in another PC tower that was given to me (used for downloading only). The HTPC has a 1TB HD, 2G's of RAM, Celeron D (I know, I know), Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum, Hauppage HVR-1250, RADEON HD4650 1GB PCIE, on an old ASUS 800MHz motherboard.

I know, this turned into more of a blog than a post.Sorry.
 
#70 ·
There are a ton of great tutorials on how to setup a particular Linux-based machine, so I don't buy the argument that there are always problems.
Except that they are always generic tutorials that assume the installer won't fail, which often happens. Just try and install most Linux distros with a USB DVD drive. About half of them fail part way through. Some work fine and so does Window 7. There are similar issues with systems that have multiple hard drives, such as home servers. Existing software RAID arrays are a particular problem since the default install will recognize them sometimes and overwrite them on others. There are also issues with setting up multi-boot systems. It's not just some distros either. It's hit and miss across different distros and versions. I've recently had a case where the live disk works fine but the DVD installer won't with the same distro. That distro would install from a USB flash drive but not a USB DVD drive. There are also major incompatibilities between software and system libraries with Linux. It appears that Linux does not allow multiple versions of the same run time library to co-exist, unlike Windows which does. This is a real issue when trying to install updated software on a slightly older Linux distro.
 
#72 ·
It's not FUD but my personal experiences from trying to set up a Linux Samba/media server. Linux is far from easy to set up and administer for such tasks on a single machine. There are lots of things that are broken on various Linux distros. I've yet to find one that installs and works properly for the things I want to accomplish. There are probably work arounds for some of the issues but they are difficult to find and each (sometimes frequent) release of some distros appear to create new problems. I've worked in the software industry so I have some knowledge of what is happening. With Linux you basically have two choices. Those are bleeding edge distros with constant problems or more stable distros that often don't support new versions of some applications software. I've also been using Unix, Windows and Linux for over 20 years.
 
#74 ·
It's not a rant. Like I said, I tried all of the major distros and found a number of problems, both with installation and operation. On a simple desktop system, most are fine. However, when hardware and software configurations get more complex, all have issues of one kind or another. Dismiss it or call it what you want, the problems exist and ignoring them won't change that. As I see it, the major causes are the fragmentation of the Linux/Open Software effort and rapid changes to the end product. It creates a lot of similar but incompatible products and confusion in the marketplace.
 
#75 ·
Scarybob, I think you are having a lot more significant problems than the typical linux user because you clearly have more complex hardware, and you are also trying to do more complex things as well. I have tried dozens of distros (both live CD's and HD installations) on my system and have never had any problems multi-booting. My experience seems to be the opposite of yours - the vast majority of them work for me without problems.
 
#76 ·
I tried ubuntu 9.10 gnome and to be honest I see nothing special about it.
here is a list of issues:

1) you have to use the terminal for basic tasks such as repairing the OS and other basics
2) No games no software no drivers
3) not compatible with iphone

other than that its very secure, fast and I love compiz.
 
#78 ·
I'll say. Any recent Linux distro that I've used (last 2 years) I've had pretty much zero issues with drivers. On the other hand, every Windows box I've setup I've had to locate and install network drivers (on another machine, of course) and then install video drivers, sound card drivers, etc. Usually with reboots in between each one.
 
#79 ·
The only time I've ever had major problems installing Ubuntu on any machine involved a couple of HP notebooks. A couple of one word parameters on the live CD's startup command line however fixed those problem immediately. One update later, the drivers were upgraded, activating all of the critical devices on the machines.

ScaryBob, what were the computer brands that caused you the most grief? Usually the bigger the company (HP, IBM, Dell), the more customized their machine may be, and the bigger the potential for installation failures.
 
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